Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to methods and software for web document specific messaging. Specifically, the present invention utilizes a combination of front end software, such as in the form of a browser, browser extension, or mobile application, with backend processing on at least one server and corresponding database, in order to provide for a web document specific message board and/or interactive chat application for users viewing a particular web document.
Description of the Related Art
An Internet forum or message board is an online discussion site that allows people to hold conversations in the form of posted messages. Modern message boards can be traced back to the earlier dial-up based bulletin board systems (BBS), which allowed users to connect and log onto a system using a terminal program, in order to upload and download data, share information, and exchange messages with other users, whether by way of a public message board, private messaging, or direct live chatting.
Today, modern message boards have evolved along with the web, and host a vast array of different user-generated content and discussion related to different topics. Forum software packages have become widely available on the Internet and are written in a variety of programming languages, such as PHP, Perl, Java, and ASP. The configuration and records of user posts are typically stored in text files or in databases. Each software package may offer different features, such as social networking features or integration, personal galleries, comment systems, as well as integrated chat systems. Modern message boards may also accommodate various media content in addition to text, to include images, sounds, and videos which may be readily embedded into a message for easy viewing.
However, despite the evolution and feature richness of modern message boards, a problem persists that has been compounded by the massive increase of information found on the Internet today. Throughout the web, disparate and discrete web pages, blog articles, social media feeds, and other web documents comprise irrelevant, spam-filled, and scattered content. Cluttered or barren webpage comment sections can be found all across the Internet, and various forums and review sites having pertinent information may be difficult to locate and/or to navigate to. Even when found, individuals who have posted content are generally strangers who are unfamiliar to the reader, and thus not always trustworthy.
Thus, there exists a need to organize user-generated content in a coherent manner on a single unified platform, such that a user may filter relevant user-generated content from one or more sources that corresponds directly to a web document or web page that they are presently viewing.